The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Drills confirm deep mineralization identified with geophysics North of 60 Mining News – July 9, 2021
Drilling has cut both shallower gold-silver mineralization similar to the Premier deposit about 430 meters to the southeast and a newly discovered zone of deeper copper-silver mineralization identified with geophysics.
A cross section of the geophysical anomaly targeted and the location of the two zones encountered with the first seven holes drilled during the 2021 program at Premier.
Ascot Resources Ltd. July 8 announced the discovery of new high-grade copper, gold, and silver mineralization west of the main deposit on the company's Premier project near the town of Stewart, at the southern tip of British Columbia's Golden Triangle.
A planned 25,000-meter drill program at Premier got underway in late May by following up on the 2020 success west of the Premier deposit, a lower-elevation area that is easier to access early in the year.
Highlights from the 2020 drilling between the Premier deposit and Woodbine, which lies about 1,000 meters west of the resource area, include:
• Six meters averaging 9.21 grams per metric ton gold and 6.9 g/t silver in hole P20-2183.
• 3.23 meters of 20.06 g/t gold and 39.7 g/t silver in P20-2193.
• 24.15 meters averaging 3.74 g/t gold in P20-2202.
• 1.73 meters averaging 29.6 g/t gold and 32.7 g/t silver in hole P20-2293.
• 8.7 meters averaging 1.75 g/t gold and 148.3 g/t silver in hole P20-2295.
This year's drilling targeted an induced polarization geophysical anomaly in the westward expansion area that is deeper than the resources that have been established at the Premier deposit.
All of the initial seven holes of the 2021 program cut a zone of gold-silver mineralization typical for Premier at around 70 meters, and three holes that were drilled deep enough encountered a second zone of high-grade copper-silver mineralization in a broad zone of sulfides that were identified with the geophysics.
"We are excited about these new exploration discoveries at PGP," said Ascot Resources President and CEO Derek White. "We are particularly encouraged that our geophysical targeting methods are proving successful in identifying new mineralized zones."
Highlights from the shallower gold-silver zone include:
• 1.25 meters averaging 0.81 g/t gold and 407 g/t silver from a depth of 73.5 meters in hole P21-2302
• Two meters averaging 0.7 g/t gold and 373 g/t silver from a depth of 65.2 meters in P21-2303.
• 1.2 meters averaging 6.57 g/t gold and 14.3 g/t silver from a depth of 42.7 meters in P21-2304.
• One meter averaging 0.1 g/t gold and 311 g/t silver from a depth of 67.6 meters in P21-2306.
Highlights from the deeper copper-silver discovery include:
• Four meters averaging 0.17 g/t gold, 137.8 g/t silver, 3.62% copper, and 0.65% zinc from a depth of 260 meters in hole P21-2305.
• 1.45 meters averaging 0.16 g/t gold, 137 g/t silver, 1.98% copper, and 0.22 g/t zinc from a depth of 254.7 meters in P21-2306.
"While base metals including copper and zinc have not been the focus for Ascot, we are intrigued to have drilled new high-grade sulfide mineralization at depth and welcome the optionality of further similar discoveries," said White. "Production at the Premier mine dates back as far as 1918 and gold and silver were historically produced alongside copper and other base metals, so the discovery thereof is not altogether surprising. We are eager to proceed with follow-up drilling this year to test the extents and continuity of this mineralization, among other high-priority targets."
The other high-priority targets include Woodbine; Day Zone, a high-grade expansion target at the Big Missouri deposit; and Silver Hill, a high-grade silver target further north.
More information on these zones and further details of Ascot's 2020 program at Premier can be read at Bonanza gold in Premier extension zones in Mining Explorers 2020, a magazine published by Data Mine North.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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